RT Journal Article
A1 Sher-Rosenthal, Ifat
A1 Bubis, Ettel
A1 Ketter-Katz, Hadas
A1 Derazne, Estela
A1 Sennlaub, Florian
A1 Rotenstreich, Ygal
T1 Migration of mononuclear phagocytes into the subretina contributes to retinal degeneration in the Leber congenital amaurosis RPE65/rd12 mouse model
JF Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
JO Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.
YR 2020
VO 61
IS 7
SP 703
OP 703
SN 1552-5783
AB    To assess the role of Mononuclear Phagocytes (MP) in retinal degeneration in the RPE65/rd12 mouse model    Thirty-nine RPE65/rd12 and ten C57BL/6J wild-type mice were used. RPE65/rd12 mice were treated with minocycline by daily intraperitoneal injection (50 mg/kg) for 8 weeks starting at age post-natal day 28 (p28). MP density in the sub-retina was determined by choroid-RPE flat-mount analysis and retinal function was determined by electroretinogram (ERG).    MPs in the C57BL/6J retinas at p28 and p84 were exclusively located in the inner retinal layers. In RPE65/rd12 retinas, MPs migrated into the sub-retina as early as p56. By p84 the density of MPs in the sub-retina increased by nearly 3-fold. MP density in the central retina was higher by 2 fold compared with the peripheral retina. Minocycline treatment reduced MP density in the peripheral sub-retina by 59% (16.2±1.8 cell/mm2 vs. 27.2±2.4 cell/mm2, p<0.01). Maximal ERG b-wave responses were significantly higher in minocycline- vs. placebo- treated mice under light adaptation conditions following 8 weeks of treatment (mean ± SE: 199µv ± 28µv vs. 129.8µv ±9.8µv, p=0.016).     MP migration into the subretina contributes to retinal degeneration in RPE65/rd12 mice. These results may provide a rationale for developing treatments that target MP migration for treating LCA and possibly other RP forms associated with retinoid cycle defects.  This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract. 
RD 1/21/2021